Pearson wants wage reductions

New Hull City chairman Adam Pearson has revealed he intends to get the club's wage bill under control.

By James Riach

Last Updated: 03/11/09 12:49pm

New Hull City chairman Adam Pearson has revealed he intends to get the club's huge wage bill under control.

Pearson, who left City £1million in the black when he departed for Derby County in October 2007, has returned to a club saddled with debt with the wage bill reported at £40million.

The highest earners at Hull are reported to be Jimmy Bullard, Geovanni, Daniel Cousin and George Boateng - and Pearson admitted that certain players may have to be sold.

The Tigers are on a poor run of form in the Premier League and much speculation has surrounded the future of manager Phil Brown.

With Hull only managing eight points from their opening 11 games, the manager has been under increasing pressure at the KC Stadium and although Pearson assured him that he will be in charge for the weekend clash with Stoke, he did not give Brown any long-term promises.

However, the chairman is convinced that the financial future of the club is not out of control despite the sizeable wage bill, and he intends to deal with the problems as soon as possible.

"Everything I can see on those accounts looks to me as though it's solvable and I don't think there should be any dramatic panic about out financial situation," he said.

"Everything here looks as though it can be put right pretty quickly. Hopefully we can sort on the pitch out as well and move forward there and get a bit of team spirit and unity back together."

Pearson oversaw Hull's rise from near bankruptcy to the Championship in six successful years during his first spell at the club, and is delighted to be back after former chairman Paul Duffen left last week.

"It's happened very quickly over the last week," he added. "The owner decided it was important we had a new direction so I'm delighted to be here, it's like coming home.

"The infrastructure of the club seems pretty much the same. We have got one or two issues to address but I am sure we will do that."